Improved centrifugal governor



Mm PHOTQLITHDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

THOMAS R. PIOKERING, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED CENTRIFUGAL GOVERNOR.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. PIOKERING, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in theCentrifugal Governor for Marine and other Steam-Engines and otherMotors; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure l is anaxial section of agovernor constructed according to my invention., 7Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

This invention relates to the attachment of the balls or centrifugalweights of the governors to springs one of the two extremities of eachof which is made fast relatively to the spindle and the other relativelyto theslide or sleeve of the governor. In governors of this kind asheretofore constructed,thesprings have been so arranged that they havebeen of elliptical or semi-elliptical form, as shown in black outline inFig. 3, when the governor has been at rest, and have tended to assume acircular or semicircularform, as shown in red outline in the samefigure, when the governor was set in motion with an increasing velocity,or else they have been of nearly circular form, as shown in blackoutline in Fig. 4, when at rest, and have tended to assume an ellipticalform when the.

governor was set in motion, as shown in red outline in the latterfigure.

Now, in a centrifugal governor it is a desideratum to have the weight ofthe centrifugallymoving parts collected as much as, possible in two ormore points-that is to say, practically speaking, on the ballsand it istherefore desirable to have the'springs to which the balls are attachedas light as possible; but with springs of the above-mentioned formsufficient strength to produce the necessary centripetal force to act inopposition to the centrifugal force of the balls, or sufficientstiffness to counteract the effects of gravitation upon the balls whenthe governor is in an inclined or horizontal position,cannot be obtainedwithout making'the springs somewhat heavy.

The object of this invention is to enable the requisite centripetalforce and stiffness to be obtained with a lighter spring.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and apply my invention, Iwill proceed to describe it, with reference to the drawings.

A is the spindle of the governor,having firmly secured to it a broad anddeep flange,B,havinga cylindrical periphery, and having fitted looselyto it the sleeve or slide 0, which is farnished with a broad flange, B,of similar size to B, or thereabonts. The slide 0 is only permitted tomove longitudinally upon the spindle, being prevented from turningthereon by a feather, a. The peripheries of the flanges B and B haveprovided on them, atequal distances apart, grooves for the reception ofthe ends of the springs, said grooves being parallel with. the axis ofthe governor, and the grooves in one flange being opposite to those inthe other one.

D D are the springs, composed of thin flat strips of steel plate. Thesemay be in their normal condition either curved, as shown in Fig. 1, orstraight; but I prefer to make them straight, and to set them in thecurved form,so that they will retain it even while the governor is atrest, by setting the slide 0 up toward the fixed flange B, and securingit by a collar,

b, fastened on the spindle. Two ways ofsecuring the springs to theflanges B B are represented, in both of which an internally-cylindricalcollar, E, is used, such collar being fitted tightly over and secured tothe flange, and serving to keep the end portion of the springs parallelwith the shaft. The said collars may be grooved internally parallel withtheir axis for the reception of the springs, which will in that case bereceived partly within the collars and partly within the flanges. Thespringsare prevented from being displaced from the flange B in alongitudinal direction by providing a groove, 0, around the flange, andbending the extreme ends ofthespringsinward to enter the said groove;but the same result is effected in the flange B'by drilling holesthrough the collarand the spring and into the flange, and insertingpins, screws, or rivets d (1. Either of theabove modes of securing thesprings against longitudinal displacement may be adopted.

FF are the balls,made with central openings of conical form, the smallerends of which are of a diameter greater than the width of the springs,toallow them to be slipped easily along the springs to the middle ofthelength thereof, and the said openings having screw-threads out inthem. The balls thus constructed are each secured to its respectivespring by fitting two taper-plugs, e e, of wood or other material, toopposite sides of the spring and screwing the ball onto the saidplugs,first securing the plugs against any movement lengthwise ofthe'spring by drilling holes through them and through the spring andinserting short transverse pins f f. This mode of securing the balls tothe springs clamps the portions of the springs within the balls betweenthe two flat faces of the plugs e e, and consequently keeps the middleportion of the spring straight. In an upright governor screw-threads inthe balls will not be necessary, if the balls are arranged with thesmaller ends of their central openings upward. By thus securing the endsand middle portions of the springs parallel with the shaft, thedeflection of the springs, whether by centrifugal force or by drawingtheir ends toward each other, is caused to be in the compound curvedform represented in Fig. lr-thatis to say,each half or the portion oneach side of or above and below the balls being of the form of a eyma,and in this form the springs offer great resistance in comparison to thethick ness of the steel, to the tendency so to bend them produced by thecentrifugal force of the balls, and hence the springs are enabled to bemade of very light steel, and a larger proportion of the weight of thecentrifugally-actiug parts of the governor is enabled to be collected inthe balls.

To enable the springs to be made of still lighter steel than they couldotherwise be, I apply outside ofthe end portions taper-leaves g g ofsimilar steel, securing the said leaves with the springs between theflanges B Band" collars E E, and also apply other leaves, h h, taperedtoward each end to line the inner faces of the springs contiguous to theballs,securing the latter by passing them through the balls along withthe springs. These leaves are all straight in their normal condition,but bend slightly with the springs. An important resultfrom theapplication of these leavesisthe prevention of such sudden bends in thesprings immediately contiguous to the balls and flanges as would beliable to break them.

In the application of this governor constructed as described, thespindle may be arranged in a vertical inclined or horizontal position,as it will work as well in one position as another, and hence it isspecially well adapted for marine-engines. The valve or regulator of theengine or other motor to be governed is connected with the slide Gin thesame manner as it would be to the slide of an ordinary ballgovernor, andthe centrifugal action of the balls tends to draw the slide toward theflange B, and so to operate upon the valve or regulator to reduce thespeed of the engine or motor, and the tendency of the springs tostraighten acts in opposition to this force, and tends to draw the slidein the opposite direction,and so to operate upon the valve-regulator toincrease the speed of the engine or motor.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The employment of the collar E with the spring ends and the flange B,as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

2. The combination of the leaves gh with the spring D, asand for thepurpose herein shown and described.

3. The employment of the central plugs, ea, in combination with theballs F and springs D, in the manner and for the purpose herein shownand described.

. T. R. PIGKERING.

Witnesses:

JAMES LAIRD, Enw. W. HODGSON.

